| Today's oil and gas industry workers, including | | | | between 30,000 and 40,000 feet before needing to be |
| geologists who find crude oil and natural gas deposits; | | | | replaced.Rotary drilling allows the use of fluids or drilling |
| site supervisors who oversee field operations; and | | | | mud as rock is chipped away. The fluid washes out |
| refiners, use computers and other technology to make | | | | the drill hole as it goes, making the process more |
| their work easier, more efficient and less costly. And | | | | efficient. The fluid also stops an oil well from bursting |
| doing that is becoming easier as more and more | | | | forth unexpectedly (known as a "gusher"). |
| technology is developed. Large oil companies have a | | | | In the best conditions, nature helps oilfield workers bring |
| definite advantage when it comes to using technology, | | | | their find to the surface after a well is drilled. After an |
| since advanced technology costs more than small | | | | initial surge, either large or small, pressure in the reserve |
| companies can afford. A lot of the technological | | | | decreases, meaning other methods must be used to |
| innovations are not feasible except for big oil | | | | get the rest. |
| companies. But some pieces of technology are | | | | One of those methods is artificial lift. With this method, |
| available to all, and even the small companies have | | | | a pump sucks oil into tubing which then feeds into a |
| latched onto them. Some of the top technologies in | | | | storage container on ground level. Several years back, |
| drilling include logging while drilling, horizontal drilling, | | | | walking beams-arms which pump back and forth like a |
| "smart" drill bits, and new methods for recovering oil. | | | | teeter-totter to suck the oil upward were a common |
| Basic forms of logging while drilling, where a driller | | | | site in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, California and other |
| views the inside of the hole being drilled in one way or | | | | oil-producing states. Another form of artificial lift |
| another, have been around for some time. Logging is | | | | involves pumping gas bubbles into oil to decrease its |
| used here in the form that you log, or check and write | | | | density, making it lighter and thereby allowing reservoir |
| up, what is happening as it occurs. Keeping track of | | | | pressure to pump it out. Both of these methods leave |
| what you are hitting or missing helps in future drilling. | | | | much oil in the reservoir, meaning other methods must |
| There are various techniques of logging. Such | | | | be employed to get the rest. |
| techniques make drilling more efficient, meaning less | | | | Water or gas injection are also alternative methods of |
| money is spent on getting to crude oil, which eventually | | | | bringing the oil to the surface. With gas injection into |
| could lower consumer prices for oil-related products, | | | | the top of the reservoir, a gas cap forms, forcing oil to |
| such as gasoline. | | | | the bottom and then pressuring it out. To use water |
| Not all oil deposits are readily accessible to a traditional | | | | flooding, water must be entered into another well site |
| vertical well. In fact, in recent years many oil wells have | | | | connected to the well being worked on. The water |
| been dug starting on one piece of land and crossing | | | | floods into all wells, forcing oil to the top, since oil floats |
| underneath a body of water to another piece of land | | | | on water. To see this, take any common oil, such as |
| to reach the deposit. | | | | the kind found in most kitchens, and pour some into a |
| Surface drilling equipment is offset from the oil deposit. | | | | cup of water. The two fluids stay separate with the oil |
| At the start of the drill process, the well is drilled | | | | on top even after vigorous mixing. |
| vertically, then a few degrees at a time it turns | | | | Natural gas can be pumped into a reservoir to mix |
| whichever direction is needed to hit the deposit. | | | | with the oil, making it light enough to flow. Another |
| Sometimes the arc of the well is great, other times | | | | option is to use a surfactant or soap-like substance |
| less, depending on how sharp a turn has to be made. | | | | ahead of water and behind the oil. The substance |
| The drilling part that actually tears or chips away at soil, | | | | forms a barrier around the oil, and water behind the |
| rock and other materials as a well is dug, called a drill | | | | substance pushes the oil to the surface. The soapy |
| bit, is an essential tool to drilling a well. In recent years, | | | | substance also ensures a thorough gathering of oil. |
| technology advancements have made such tools | | | | Heat also can be used to get oil flowing. Up to a million |
| more capable, longer lasting and less expensive. | | | | times thicker than water, oil can be thinned by blasting |
| Newer bits, which have carbide teeth and are specially | | | | steam into the reservoir. Water is first pumped off, |
| designed for different types of material, can go | | | | then oil is gathered. |